Summary of Engineers Canada’s 2019 Fall Meetings October 2 to October 4, 2019

Materials All materials for this meeting, including the agenda, reports, and presentations are available on the Engineers Canada website

Board Meeting Friday, October 4, 2019

President’s Report David Lynch presented the President’s Report to the Board, which covered topics including: Engineers Canada meetings. Attending AGMs for PEGNL and Engineers Nova Scotia. Attending international events: the International Engineering Alliance. the annual conference of the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE). the annual meeting of the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES).

Interim Performance Report Gerard McDonald, Luigi Benedicenti, and Dennis Peters presented the Interim Performance Report to the Board. This report covers the year until June 30, 2019. Strategic Priority 2: Accountability in Accreditation, is reporting in yellow due to delays in hiring a consultant. A consultant has now been hired and some 2019 objectives are expected to be achieved in early 2020. This report was prepared prior to recent developments on the affinity file. this will be reported in the Q3 update, which will be presented to the Board in December. In February, the Board will receive the 2019 annual report.

CEO Group Jim Landrigan, chair of the CEO Group, presented a summary of their recent meeting. The group received presentations on: the environmental scan for the next strategic plan. the competency-based assessment project. operational imperative 9 sub-strategy on diversity and inclusion in the profession. findings of the awards program review. international mobility. The CEO Group was pleased to see Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba joining the competency-based assessment project, and that other regulators are giving it serious consideration. The group also recommends that the incremental funding required for the addition of Canadian competencies to the project be supported. Regarding the IIDD, the group concurred with the value seen by NAOG, and agree that there was merit in updating the system. The CEO Group recognized the contribution Len White has made for Engineers Nova Scotia, and wish him well on his upcoming retirement.

President’s Group Serge Dupuis, chair of the Presidents Group, presented a summary of the presidents’ meeting. The group received presentations on: the BC Professional Governance Act Engineers Canada’s 2022-2024 strategic planning process. The Presidents Group requested that Engineers Canada develop clear vision, mission, and values within the strategic planning process. They also reiterated their suggestion that the CEAB and CEQB report to the CEO. The group recommended changes to section 5.7 of by-laws, to require abstentions to be counted as votes against a motion. In addition, the Presidents Group recommends that the host regulator be able to assign a designate to act as chair of the Annual Meeting of Members, if the Engineers Canada president is unable to fulfill that duty. The intention is to ensure all members have the opportunity to participate in debate and to vote. The Presidents Group discussed a standardized requirement for continuing professional development, such as a single portal to which engineers can report their CPD, reducing duplication across regulators and improving mobility. The topic of Board size came up, with no consensus other than the majority agree on reducing the size of the Board but is split between 12 or 16 directors. The group also finalized their terms of reference. George Eynon (APEGA) and David Goosney (PEGNL) were selected as Chair and Vice-Chair of the group for the next meeting.

Affinity programs and finances Gerard McDonald presented a report regarding the affinity programs and finances. He described how the programs were started to offset the financial contributions by regulators to Engineers Canada. When the organization’s contract with TD Insurance was renewed in 2017, Engineers Canada successfully negotiated an increase in the amount provided to Engineers Canada, with the entirety of that increase passed on to participating regulators. Earlier this year, APEGA opted to leave the home and auto program with TD Insurance, feeling that they could achieve better benefits for their members through a different provider. Shortly after, Nova Scotia indicated that they were considering leaving the program. On September 6, 2019, there was an emergency meeting of the Board to discuss this, and a motion was carried to increase the amount that regulators receive when new members join the program. This increased amount does not apply to existing members of the program. That is, the agreement does not apply to existing policy holders, only for new policy holders joining the program after January 1, 2020. The impact of these changes for Engineers Canada is projected to result in a net reduction in revenues. The data presented at the meeting does not take into account monies received from the Ontario program if PEO continues to not sign on to the program. Engineers Canada is working closely with TD Insurance to mitigate the effect of APEGA’s departure, and the Finance, Audit and Risk (FAR) Committee will develop proposals to address long-term funding concerns. This is expected to be presented at the February meeting. In addition, Lisa Doig, chair of the FAR Committee, presented a motion that the Board postpone, until February 2020, any further activities related to the recommendations of the Funding Task Force. This postponement will allow FAR to analyze the effects of APEGA’s withdrawal from the Home and Auto Insurance Affinity Program on Engineers Canada financial situation. This motion was carried.

Qualifications Board publications The White Paper on Environmental Engineering was approved for publication on the Engineers Canada public website. The Regulator Guideline on the Use of Syllabi was approved for publication on the Engineers Canada members-only website.

National position statements National position statements on Artificial Intelligence Engineering Technology in Autonomous and Connected Vehicles and Indigenous Peoples’ Access to Post-Secondary Engineering Education were approved for publication on the Engineers Canada public website, and to support communications with the federal government.

Accreditation Board criteria The following changes to Accreditation Board Criteria were approved: 3.4.4.1 - A minimum of 600 Accreditation Units (AU) of a combination of engineering science and engineering design curriculum content in an engineering program shall be delivered by faculty members holding, or progressing toward, professional engineering licensure as specified in the Interpretive statement on licensure expectations and requirements. 3.4.4.4 - A minimum of 225 AU of engineering design curriculum content in an engineering program shall be delivered by faculty members holding professional engineering licensure as specified in the Interpretive statement on licensure expectations and requirements. These changes move AU requirements from the interpretative statements to criteria No changes in the AU values, accreditation procedures, or decisions will result from this change. The interpretative statements have been in use since 2007. NCDEAS Chair Jim Nicell expressed concern that interpretative statements are taking on the force of regulation without notification or consultation. While not necessarily opposed to the change, the NCDEAS requested that the typical consultation process be undertaken.

2020 Draft budget Gerard McDonald presented the draft 2020 budget for discussion. While the Board asked clarifying questions, there were no requested changes or adjustments, other than some formatting and presentation suggestions. The Board will be considering the budget again for approval in December.

CEAB and CEQB reports and work plans Luigi Benedicenti, chair of the CEAB, and Dennis Peters, past-chair of the CEQB, each presented their work plan for the upcoming year as well as a report of their recent activities.

Board Committee work plans The 2020 work plans for the FAR Committee, Governance Committee, and Human Resources Committee were approved.

Strategic Priority 3: Recruitment, retention and professional development of women in the engineering profession The Board carried three motions related to Strategic Priority 3: Approval of the sub-strategy Direction to the CEAB to develop appropriate ways within the accreditation process to incorporate the goals of the 30 by 30 initiative Requesting that the CEQB produce a guideline for engineers and engineering firms on the topic of diversity and inclusion  There was some discussion about the extent to which the accreditation process is the best tool for this work.

Operational imperative 5: Advocating to the federal government The Board approved the sub-strategy for Operational Imperative 5: Advocating to the Federal Government.

Terms of Reference for the 2022-2024 Strategic Plan Task Force The Board approved a motion to approve the Terms of Reference for the 2022-2024 Strategic Plan Task Force and appointed the following Board members: David Lynch (President) Jean Boudreau (President-Elect) Annette Bergeron (Past-President) Kathy Baig (Member from OIQ) Jeff Card (Member from PEGNL) Mike Wrinch (Member from Engineers & Geoscientists BC)

Reduction in board size The Board carried a motion to task the Governance Committee to develop a plan for a reduction in Board size pursuant to the Meeting of Members motions 5665 and 5666, to be presented for decision at the May 2020 Board meeting. This motion was presented because, while the Board did approve two plans that the members could consider, these plans were never put on the Meeting of Members agenda in May 2018, as an alternative board size motion was brought forward.

30 by 30 Champions Network update Sandra Gwozdz, 30 by 30 Board Champion presented a report on progress toward the 30 by 30 goal.

Review of operational committees Gerard McDonald presented a summary of proposed changes to Engineers Canada’s operational committees It was suggested that the CEO ensure the diversity policy of the Board is applied to operational committees, and there was some discussion of whether Board members should be members of operational committees. It was generally agreed that this should be discouraged as it clouds lines of reporting and influence from the CEO up to the Board.

Upcoming meetings

Upcoming meetings December 9, 2019 (Ottawa, ON) February 24 – 26, 2020 (Ottawa, ON) April 8, 2020 (teleconference) May 21 – 23, 2020 (Winnipeg, MB) June 15-16, 2020 (Fredericton, NB)